UK Music chief responds to YouTube’s Lyor Cohen over safe harbours

17/08/2017: UK Music chief executive Michael Dugher has responded to the claim from YouTube’s head of music, Lyor Cohen, that “safe harbours are a distraction”.

In a blog, Lyor Cohen wrote: “Safe harbour has become an obsession — with many complaining it’s the cause of all of industry’s woes. I’m not parroting the company line when I say the focus on copyright safe harbours is a distraction. Safe harbour helps open platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Soundcloud and Instagram give a voice to millions of artists around the world, making the industry more competitive and vibrant”.

Michael responded on Twitter, saying: “It's not a distraction - it's fundamentally important. The people who create the music and invest in it should be fairly rewarded. End of.”